TLDR: This race is for Disney fans who also like to run. It is not for runners who also happen to like Disney.

Before I get hate for not embracing Disney, I did dress up as Jack the Lamplighter from Mary Poppins Returns and I took photos with Venelope and Pluto. So, I did some Disney things on this race.

Full Review:
I only ran the full; I did not run the Dopey or Goofy challenges. As a result, I went to the Expo on Saturday afternoon, which was the last day of the expo. I thought that the expo was complete garbage. The first building we went to had airbrushing, third party vendors, and presentation, but no race-related information. We went to another building and it had my wife's cheering packet, but no runner packets. Then, the bib and the "packet" were also in two separate buildings. By the time I had my wife's packet, my packet, and my bib, I think I had visit 5 different buildings and probably walked a couple miles. This was absurd. Too much walking. Too spread out. And the third party vendors were pretty crappy compared to a normal runner-focused marathon. Also, the participant shirt and the other merchandise for the race were extremely cheap. I don't mean inexpensive. I mean they are low quality. I was very disappointed compared to other races with cost/quality ratio of the the merchandise for this race.

Race day I knew would start early. I knew I'd have to get on a bus at 3am to travel to the start. That's fine. I expected it. They moved the start time from 5:30am to 5am this year, but apparently they did not adequately prepare for traffic on the roads to the park, and the race really didn't start until 5:30 anyway. I'm told the course changed a little too. Magic Kingdom and Cinderella's Castle were at mile 10 instead of mile 5, and the course went through Blizzard Beach instead of Wide World of Sports. Pushing the castle to mile 10 just meant spending a little more time in Epcot at the beginning and also doing a weird out and back on the highway outside of Epcot. Running Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were cool. If you had a magic band then you could stop and ride a ride in Animal Kingdom and also some bars were open and you could definitely order a beer or shots and pay quickly with your Magic Band. I really wish that the bars along the course had race specials that would have made ordering easier. I nearly stopped at one, but there was no posted menu and I wasn't thinking straight.

Running through Blizzard Beach was a dumb change because the park is not open in January, so it was just like running through a depressing abandoned water park with no water in it. On the other hand, Hollywood Studios and the Boardwalk were decent stretches of the race. Hopefully in the future when Epcot construction is complete, the end in Epcot will be less crappy. As it was, going from the Boardwalk to the Epcot construction zone was a depressing way to end the race.

At the finish line, the amount of physical space between the finish line and reunification space is INSANELY long. I had to walk like half a mile just to get from the finish line to the area with tables where I met my wife. This was dumb.

The medal was cool.

Overall, this race was fine, but I would never do it again. This is not a race built for runners. If you like the pomp of a big race and fun expo, and you are looking for a race in the South, I would recommend Little Rock, Cowtown (Fort Worth), or Houston.

Anytime I mentioned this race to anyone the first thing they said was "you're going to run a marathon in Mississipi in September?" I'm from Texas, so I knew what I was getting into, but it was hot.

The race started at 5 am (all races should start at 5 am) to get out ahead of the sun. That said, the sun was in full force by the time I was at mile 16 or so. and the last 8 miles are pretty much in full sun. The course is hilly, but "rolling." That is to say, it doesn't have any monster hills like Little Rock, but you are constantly going up and down. The website lists the elevation gain at 735. My watch logged 1,925. The course, itself was well marked, but nothin special. It was mostly on highway/FM roads that were still open to traffic. It's an out and back that take you almost to the finish line in a circle and then turns back. The course was very dark before sunrise, and many runners had headlamps. I kind of relied on those other runners because I didn't want to carry a headlamp when the bulk of the race (for someone slow like me) would be in daylight. If I did it again, I'd probably just wear some glow bracelets or use one of thos hat clip lights they sell at Wal Mart for $1.

Between the darkness and the road choice, this race is not scenic. There aren't even cool features like random bridges or anything that you might see or run over. The start was barely marked on the road that runs behind Trails and Treads - a local running and cycling store). It's a gun start, so the only mats are at 13.1 and 26.2. Everyone has the same start time. Finish was just a little further down the road behind Trails and Treads.

Post-race loot was good. The medal is AWESOME. This race has great medals. The beverage choice was good. I think I had a Mich Ultra, a Powerade, 2 waters, an orange juice, and 2 chocolate milks. Worth it. The BBQ was kind of meh.

The aid stations are fine, and I salute the volunteers who manned them. They were doing their best, but there weren't enough volunteers. I wore my Orange Mud Double Barrel in anticipation of this and I was very glad I did. It was also super easy to fill up at mile 21 from one of their Gatorade jugs. There was one aid station that had ice pops though....that was clutch! I never really thought about ice pops on the course, but this is my new favorite thing.

It's a small race. There was no expo, just packet pickup. The Tie-dye shirt is cool. The medal is GREAT. Race organization is solid, but it's a spartan race. That said, there are a lot of runners from surrounding states who run this race every year, so it's clearly a regional favorite. I love the motto "trample the weak, hurdle the dead." It's definitely a challenging race that feels like a real accomplishment between the heat and the hills.

EDIT: I came back and bumped this from 3 starts to 4 stars. I sometimes find myself fondly wishing I was running this race again. With a little more time to think about, I think I understand the appeal of this race. It is for and by runners in a way that is really special. This race is not about being seen. It is about running because you love it.

Run Project puts on a pretty good race for the price. There's no expo; I picked up my packet a local Lululemon store. That was fine. The biggest problem with the race is parking. You can pay extra to park near the start/finish. Otherwise, you're either street parking or walking a long way. It's not a big deal, but you have to budget your time.

The swag this year was a tank top and a hat. The tank top is nice, but it's black. I would have preferred red or orange (the race's other colors) just because black is hot in the summer and too dark for a morning run. The hats were delayed from China. They say they're going to mail them directly to us when they come in. Probably not their fault, but who knows?

The course is around White Rock lake; the scenery is nice, but it's also my normal route so it's nothing special. It is not challenging at all; there are only a couple of "hills" on this course that sort of straddle the midpoint. They are 50-80 foot climbs. It's an out-and-back, so you get to go down them as well.

Aid stations had Nuun, which I like personally. The spacing of the aid stations was fine. I volunteers were okay, but sometimes they were a little under staffed. That's ok for the price.

Post-race was good if you were in the beer corral where they had 26.2 beer and that new spiked seltzer water stuff. But outside of the beer area, it was not so good. Lots of bottled water, but by the time I finished (2:05) many of the tents had been abandoned, including the Hoist tent.

Overall, it's a good race for a fair price. It was super hot though, and the 7:30am start seemed late for a July race. I'd love a 5am start, but I'd settle for 7am.

What an amazing experience, let's round up the facts:

EXPO: the expo was at the Little Rock convention center. It was really easy to get to and the expo was pretty much exactly what you would expect of a major race. There were lots of vendors, free stuff, and the LRM merch was varied and plentiful. Packet pickup was easy and everyone working the vent was great.

RACE DAY: the weather was supposed to be pretty crummy. It was cold and when we left our hotel at 6am or so, we had the wipers all full blast. I was not looking forward to running in the cold rain. More than that, I feared WAITING in the cold rain. But the start/finish line was right outside the convention center, so the waiting totally happened indoors and out of the cold and rain. This was AMAZING. Also, the convention center had both porta-potties and real terrestrial restrooms, so that was nice before the race. Everything about the pre-race was top notch!

COURSE SUPPORT: The water stations for this race were also top notch. They had water and Nuun at every station, but also Hammer Gels at some of the later stations, as well as oranges and bananas. In between official water stations were MANY MANY unofficial ones with beer, mimosas, donuts, pineapple, tater tots, PBJ. The support for this race, both official and unofficial were the best I have ever experienced.

THE COURSE: Hills. Hills. Hills. This is a challenging course. You know it's going to be hilly, but when you get to the halfway point you're thinking "this hasn't been so bad." Then the real hills punch you in the gut. miles 14-16 are BRUTAL. Then you get an insane downhill that feels like falling off of a cliff. As long as you enter this race understanding how unlikely a PR is, you'll be fine.

THE MEDAL: HUGE

Overall, this race is just incredible. The course is brutal, but the challenge and the support make it all worth it. The medal is amazing, if cheesy and kitschy. It's all part of the LR charm. This race is a MUST. No question. The chicks in charge put on an event that has all the charm of a small town and all the support and pomp of a big-time race.